From the introduction to the 1988 2nd-edition hardcover: Living Steel™ is a complete high-tech role-playing system. Included are all the rules necessary for play, as well as guidelines for the game's setting, the world of Rhand. The action begins in the year 2349; the players find themselves in the middle of Humanity's Apocalypse, and are faced with the twin tasks of surviving and rebuilding civilization. Working against them are vast numbers of brigands, madmen, and hostile aliens, and the fact that technology is breaking down rapidly. The players have talent and experience on their side, however as well as a few of the sophisticated Power Armor suits for which the game is named; Living Steel. From that starting point, the players determine their own futures. User summary: Science-fiction/post-apocalyptic role-playing game set on the planet Rhand (not quite the same version as seen in Rhand: Morningstar Missions). The 1987 first edition is compatible with the Phoenix Command combat system; the 1988 second edition is compatible with the Dragonstar Rising boardgame.